Mary Njeri Kinyanjui

Growth and barriers to growth among Nairobi's small and medium-sized garment producers

Abstract Few of Nairobis small and medium-sized garment enterprises actually grow. Understanding why this should be so requires recognition both of their common problems and of the variations in their organization and market relations. Two factors appear critical for the growth of all of the producers: demand for new clothing and the firms initial capital. Other growth constraints differ according to the type of firm. Space constraints are highlighted as especially important for businesses presently operating in market stalls. The design of policy and donor interventions needs to consider both the commonalities and the differences among firms.

From home to jua kali enterprise spaces: entrepreneurship and female gender identity

This paper shows women entrepreneurs juggling their gender identity while moving from home to jua kali enterprise spaces. The women start businesses to realise their entrepreneurial desires. These women diligently apply themselves in managing successful firms. They tap their unique feminine attributes such as patience, perseverance and hard work, as well as ability to interact and collaborate with others. This paper shows how women entrepreneurs turn little spaces into nests where gender and business relationships evolve. By joining identity preservation networks and peer entrepreneurship groups, these women overcome business problems. This treatise concludes by proposing a model of female entrepreneurship that is not in conflict with their gender: one that relies on trust and commonality of goals. The proposed model is a combination of three principles of the female gender: space; hard work and perseverance; and interaction and collaboration. The paper surmises that female gender identity can be an asset in entrepreneurship.

Women Informal Garment Traders in Taveta Road, Nairobi: From the Margins to the Center

Abstract: This article investigates the Taveta Road phenomenon, whereby women garment informal traders occupy a whole street in the central business district in Nairobi, Kenya. It also discusses the implications for urban planning of the presence of women informal traders in the central business district. The article demonstrates that the ability of these traders to move from the margins into the heart of the city is based on their ability to cross borders, organize collectively, and develop entrepreneurial skills that make use of social networks, group agency, and personal initiative. It also illustrates that over time, their gradual encroachment has led to an acceptance of their presence and their integration into the urban economy. These developments—which are referred to as “subaltern urbanism” or “solidarity entrepreneurialism”—have far-reaching implications in terms of the traders’ relationship with the city, state laws, and the national economy. Résumé: Cet article examine le phénomène de la route Taveta, par lequel les femmes du commerce informel de vêtements occupent toute une rue dans le quartier des affaires du centre de Nairobi, au Kenya. L’article examine également les implications pour le plan d’urbanisme tenant compte de la présence des vendeuses informelles dans le quartier central des affaires. Cet article démontre que la capacité de ces vendeuses à se rapprocher du cœur de la ville tient à leur aptitude à traverser les frontières, à s’organiser collectivement, et à développer leurs compétences d’entrepreneuses en utilisant les réseaux sociaux, la dynamique de groupe, et les initiatives personnelles. Il illustre également que leur empiètement progressif a engendré au cours du temps un consentement à leur présence et une intégration à l’économie urbaine. Ces développements, que j’appelle “urbanisme subalterne” ou “entreprenariat solidaire,” ont des implications d’une grande portée au niveau de la relation des commerçantes avec la ville, les lois d’état, et l’économie nationale.

Industrialization and Rural Development in the Anglophone African Countries

At independence, Anglophone African countries or the former British colonies inherited a structural and spatial pattern of industries incapable of contributing significantly to sustainable rural development and nationally integrated economies. In the subsequent post-independence period, efforts in some countries were made in their industrial planning and implementation processes to restructure the inherited pattern, but not much success has been attained. To date, industrialization and rural development have made little impact in many of the Anglophone African countries. The central argument of this article is that the inherited characteristics and pattern of industrialization in the Anglophone African countries are incapable of contributing significantly to sustainable rural development and balanced nationally integrated economies and there is need for a new industrial allocation pattern. The article discusses the characteristics and evolving trends in industrialization and rural development and makes suggestions for the future.

Gender and Cross Border Flows of Horticulture Exports: The Hidden Hand of Women in Economic Growth at Macro Level

The economic empowerment of women in agriculture sector has become a central goal of the international community including the Governments of many developing countries. This is because studies have found the rural women consist of the majority of the world poor and vulnerable. However, the appropriate strategy for achieving growth in any given country remains an open question. Studies that have examined the linkage between export horticulture and poverty reduction have established that women are champions of social economic growth and posses the potential for sustainable development despite constraints occasioned by social cultural factors. This paper reports the results of a household survey in Kenya undertaken to establish determinants of growth driven by women in a sector that accounts from 11% the national Gross Domestic Product in Kenya. Though there are some positive trends that women entrepreneurs actively contribute to the overall growth the gender gap actually appears to be increasing as most women owned enterprises are at survival and stability growth platform a factor that hinders their inclusion in the unit of analysis at macro level which stops at quantitative variables (profit, value of assets, and number of employees) as opposed to qualitative variables (size of networks, unpaid work).